Solaris
by Ulysses Quanta
Summary: Elio loved history. He loved to walk the world and learn about the past, the battles and the journeys others before him had taken. Collection of drabbles.
1. Prompt: Horizon

If he were an artist, he would've considered painting the sky in front of him, streaks of orange arcing through the blue as his namesake disappeared beneath the horizon. The sunset was beautiful here, much more so than any he had seen in Kanto.

Alas, Elio was no artist, for his hands were not gentle enough to make a paint brush flow with the creativity required to capture the scenery in front of him. His talents were better used within the tower behind him, recording history and understanding the why of the past.

He'd delayed long enough. Sky Pillar awaited.


	2. Prompt: Celebration

Elio quickly finished writing down a few more notes on the ancient painting front of him as Rotom flew around taking pictures of it. The drawing told him nothing he hadn't learned from the Draconids' Loremaster already, but the fact that such a thing had survived for so long, despite everything, was astounding.

Perhaps his photos could keep any more tourists from visiting it and damaging it any more than it already had been

Setting down his notebook, Elio pulled a water bottle free, unscrewed the cap and raised it to the painting.

"To ancient history, " he said to himself.


	3. Prompt: Silence

The cave had fallen silent. Elio couldn't hear the cries of the local Pokémon anymore. Normally, that would be a cause for concern, but here it made sense.

He'd arrived at the lowest level of the Cave of Origin, where the former Champion of Hoenn had fought the super ancient Pokemon all those years ago. It would make sense that the local Pokémon stayed far away from here. The giant stalactite that hung in the middle of the area had apparently once glowed with the energy of Mega Evolution, but now hung in silence.

As though it had fallen asleep.


	4. Prompt: Mirror

The locals claimed that if you looked into the mirrored crystals of the Reflection Cave, you would be dragged into the "Mirror World" where everything was reversed, from people's personalities to the location of every town and building in the world.

A less open minded person would've scoffed at that, dismissed it as a Kalosian myth, but Elio knew better. The events in Alola had taught him otherwise.

Rotom flew around, trying to get photos of the crystals without itself in the shot while Elio made notes about the cave.

_I wonder what the other me is like_, he thought.


	5. Prompt: Fantasy

When he was younger, Elio used to act out a fantasy.

He would pretend he was the best Pokémon trainer in the world, commanding powerful titans such as Hydreigon and Metagross against people like Cynthia and Lance, with him always winning in close matches. He would always use the proceeds to buy the best food for him and his mother, the best clothes and toys for him to wear and play with...

But that had been a long time ago

Now, Elio wouldn't dream of battling Cynthia, or owning a Hydreigon.

The ruins were much more interesting than battling now


	6. Prompt: Thunder

Elio both loved and hated thunder.

He loved the rumble of it, how particularly brutal bouts of it made rooms around him shake and vibrate. It was one of the few things he could feel without any issues.

On the downside, with thunder came lightning, and lightning was attracted to metal objects.

Such as his arm, or his hand. Which meant when he heard thunder, he had to hide inside until it passed unless he wanted to be like a Pikachu and use Lightningrod.

So here he was, sitting inside the Aether Paradise, waiting for the storm to pass.

Wonderful.


	7. Prompt: Ghost

Ghosts, Elio had found, loved to haunt ancient buildings.

He'd ran into a fair few of them. The Sableye of Sky Pillar, the Gastly of Sprout Tower, for instance. They usually kept their distance from him, but the few who tried to fight were quickly driven off by Gilgamesh's attacks.

But even so, a few were willing to speak to Gil and Rotom and tell them what they knew about the locations.

It had been from one particular Gastly that he'd learned that the story of the forty foot Bellsprout had been true.

It must've been a sight to see.


	8. Prompt: Quarter

Years ago, before the Poké became standardized currency around the world, the Unovians used to call the little coins they had "quarters".

The term baffled Elio. These "quarters" had been worth around the same as a 100 Poké coin, yet they called them quarters when they were using them to play games in arcades. Why would they be quarters when they make up a tenth of a 1000 Poké note?

He theorized it was a cherished part of Unova's past, and that was why they still called them quarters even now.

If only Kanto cared as much about the past.


	9. Prompt: History

History.

Elio loved history. Give him two minutes, he'd talk your ear off about the heroes of Truth and Ideals (both the ancient and the modern heroes!) as well as the Distortion World incident and the theory some Sinnohians had regarding the Creator who rested in the Hall of Origin.

There were so many old legends and stories to hear about, ancient ruins and buildings to explore, yet barely anyone cared enough to listen. All it took was someone to listen and all that history would continue to be passed down from generation to generation.

People just had to listen.


	10. Prompt: Zero

Zero.

The Unovians were the only people to have a Pokémon listed at number zero in their Pokédex.

Victini, the Victory Pokémon, which usually lived in the Liberty Garden near Castelia City.

Elio had yet to see one. They were psychic types, which meant that they could trick people into not seeing them. A part of the reason why some people believed there was only one in the world was because the rest hid themselves from visitors.

He made notes of the structure of the building once more and began to leave.

Maybe one day, he'd get to see them.


	11. Prompt: Sanction

Weekly reports to the Aether Foundation were boring.

They never wanted to hear the interesting parts of the history he had uncovered, all they wanted to hear was if he had found any ancient techniques for helping Pokémon or information regarding Ultra Wormholes.

And yes, while they had sanctioned and funded his journey around the world in search of history, it wouldn't kill them to learn about how a colony of Darumaka had once taken up residence in a clock tower. They'd kept the clock working for months before leaving!

Can Faba do that? No? Maybe he should listen then.


	12. Prompt: Home

They say home is where the heart is.

For Elio, that used to be true. Kanto had been his home for so long. It was where he had been born, and had grown up, after all.

But it had also been the place where his dreams had been held down, the reality that came with bills and money forcing him to put them on hold just so he and his mother didn't go homeless.

In Alola, there was never a risk of going homeless, especially now, what with the Aether Foundation funding them.

Because of that, Alola had Elio's heart.


	13. Prompt: Ancestry

Ancestry played a big part in history. The great kings and queens, dictators and emperors that ruled the various regions all had ancestry dating back over many millennium.

In the modern day, ancestry was merely a bragging right, a way for people to claim they were of royal blood, or descended from someone famous. Elio still couldn't believe Lana had tried to tell him she was descended from Diantha.

She didn't have any kids.

Only a few people he'd met had any notable ancestry. Hau and Hala, Gladion and Lillie and the mysterious AZ.

Perhaps he should research ancestry next.


	14. Prompt: Blood

Bloodlines ran through Alola like a Bewear through a forest. Hala and his grandson were descendants of a long line of Kahunas, Lillie and Gladion's grandparents had founded the Aether Foundation back when Lusamine was but a child. Even Elio wasn't exempt from this, being the child of a former Kalos League Champion and all.

Granted, what ran in people's blood didn't really matter to Elio so much as how long that blood had been running for. Rumour had it everyone was descended from the same person who had once resided in ancient Galar.

It certainly was food for thought.


	15. Prompt: Legacy

When Hau had defeated Gladion to become the champion, he had become a household name in Alola. Everyone knew who he was, how he'd stopped the rampage of the Ultra Beasts on Melemele Island alongside his father, Hala.

Only a few knew the story of how a pair of teenagers traveled to Poni Island and took down the Lord of Light itself, Necrozma, saving two worlds.

Elio didn't mind. If Hau's legacy was one of a saviour, he would prefer his to be about how he uncovered the history of the old world.

Besides, people saved the world every year.


	16. Prompt: Feud

By Moltres, how could Elio forget the great feud between Unova and Galar?!

The story goes that Unova was originally a colony of Galarians, who eventually decided to rebel against their rulers due to wanting to rule themselves. The battle had been won when the old King of Unova and the Original Dragon defeated the Queen of Galar and her two wolves, Zacian and Zamazenta, in a battle to determine the fate of the Unova region, and as a result, Unova won its independence from Galar.

That defeat was supposedly the reason Galar became picky about who could live there.


	17. Prompt: Ghost II

There was that one time, during the Ghost Trial, that Elio had sworn he had seen a Pikachu running around while waiting for Hau to complete it.

Acerola had denied it, claiming that he was just imaging things. But as someone with a scientific mind, he couldn't let it slide.

So after Hau had finished, he underwent his first Island Trial, and he searched for the Pikachu.

And then the Totem Mimikyu attacked him.

Acerola still didn't believe him, explaining that he must've seen the Mimikyu and thought it was Pikachu.

But it had to be real. It had to!


	18. Prompt: Candy

Nebby loved candy.

Elio remembered how whenever they made it to a Pokémon Center, Lillie would always purchase three bags of konpeitō candy and store them away in her bag to feed Nebby with later.

When he asked about it, she had explained that Nebby refused to eat anything else and she didn't want her to starve.

He had nodded, and from then on, he helped her to feed Nebby the candy while tending to Gil and Aleister.

Even upon evolving into Lunala, Nebby still loved her candy.

Poor Lillie had to buy a lot more konpeitō for her, though.


	19. Prompt: Trick

Ahhh, Trick. One of the oldest moves in the game. You take your opponent's item and swap it for yours.

In Elio's journey across the world, he had seen the move be used in a variety of creative ways, from swapping a flame orb onto a Snorlax, to giving a Gliscor a toxic orb, to helping Sabrina escape from being forced to eat poisoned soup in that one movie she had been in. A Meal to Die For 3 or something?

He himself had yet to find a use for it.

Perhaps he could swap Faba's morning coffee for tea...?


	20. Prompt: Lantern

According to Unovian history, people back in the old days used to use the Litwick line, particularly Lampents, to light up their homes at night.

It made sense. They were fire types that naturally produced flames without any effort and Lampents produced more than Litwicks while being less awkward to train than Chandelures. Some people found them to be oddly adorable to boot. It wasn't surprising they were so popular back then.

The main issue Elio had with that idea rose from the fact that Lampents required souls to ignite their flames.

So where did they get the souls from?


End file.
